F1 News: Pirelli Has A Warning For Teams as 'Demanding' Belgian Grand Prix Sees First Crash

Alex Harrington | Jul 27, 2024

Aston Martin - X

After what feels like a long season so far, the focus shifts to the Spa-Francorchamps, a circuit renowned for its test of drivers' skills and bravery. This weekend's Belgian Grand Prix promises the same level of strategic navigation as the Hungarian Grand Prix, especially with the added complexity of the freshly resurfaced track as indicated by Pirelli's chief engineer, Simone Berra. He has a warning for teams as the track takes its first crash - Aston Martin's Lance Stroll.

Berra outlined several challenges expected this weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix. His insights come in the wake of modifications to Spa-Francorchamps, which have significantly increased the circuit's grip and consequently, its speed. However, these changes have their drawbacks, primarily increased graining on Medium and Soft tires, leading to heightened performance degradation over time. This phenomenon was noted during the practice sessions along with significant track evolution.

The weather, too, poses its own set of challenges. With Saturday expected to be wet and Sunday forecasted to be dry, teams are under pressure to adjust their strategies with limited data from the varied track conditions.

Lance had an incident in the rain in FP3. He got out of the car unaided and has been taken by the medical car to the medical centre for routine precautionary checks.#BelgianGP

— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) July 27, 2024

"It looks like being a particularly demanding weekend on the tyre front, as in fact was to be expected on a special track like Spa-Francorchamps," he says in a press release. "The fact that large sections of the track have been resurfaced has seen a significant increase in grip which, on the one hand, has made the track much quicker.

"While on the other hand, it has probably led to an increase in graining, especially on the Medium and Soft and therefore a consequent increase in performance degradation over a long distance. In both sessions, we also saw a marked track evolution."

He continued:

"As the track is expected to be mainly wet tomorrow and then dry on Sunday, the teams will have to rely on the data gathered today to come up with the best set-up and strategies on a track where it is already more complicated than usual to find the right compromise between the need for aerodynamic downforce to stop the tyres from sliding, especially in the second sector, and maintaining good top speed to be competitive in the quicker first and third sectors.

"Compared to what we saw over the previous two years with this new generation of cars, the C2 seemed to be pretty competitive and could be a valid choice for the race, which explains why four teams have kept two sets for each of their drivers.”

Following the warning, Lance Stroll proved just how dangerous this track can be with a high-speed crash at the notorious Eau Rouge corner during the third free practice session, when the rear of his Aston Martin AMR24 lost control, spinning and colliding with the inside wall. Fortunately, the driver managed to exit the vehicle unaided, though the incident necessitated immediate medical checks due to the high Gs of the collission.

Ted Kravitz, Sky Sports F1 analyst, reflected on the close call during the broadcast: "That could have been so much worse. Thank goodness that wasn't a larger accident."